“Mozart brings out the best in Daniel Barenboim,” wrote Opera magazine, also describing him as “a Mozartian of deep conviction”. For his recordings of the three Mozart-da Ponte operas, Barenboim created a hand-picked company of singers, including the charismatic John Tomlinson, here assuming the role of Figaro, and Cecilia Bartoli, who makes an irresistibly palpitating Cherubino. “Everything that Barenboim does provides some sort of illumination of the drama,” said Gramophone of this Figaro; “It has something to say, something that arises from deep and serious musical perception.”